Hagiography

(447 words)

In modern parlance hagiography denotes all the literature covering Christian veneration of saints, as well as the scientific, philological-historical research into related issues. The origins and development of hagiography reflect changes in the early Church's conception of sainthood, in so far as saints (ἅγιοι/hágioi; Lat. sancti) are no longer regarded as being, as in the NT, the community of Christians but, instead, distinguished individuals, who in their life and death are exemplary representatives of the fundamental te…